Selected in his place was Rodgers' big signing Moussa Dembele, but the youngster failed to fire, and Hartson believes it was an error moving Griffiths out to accommodate him.

Speaking to BT Sport 2's live television coverage of the fixture post-game, he said: "He [Griffiths] is wasted out wide. 40 goals last year.

"Brendan [Rodgers] will realise that quickly. You have to play Leigh Griffiths. Alright Dembele bought in on big wages, big fee, but how can you put a top striker out wide, can you imagine Henrik Larsson scoring 50 and Martin O'Neill putting him out on the right?"

"They looked better when Ciftci came on, he got a few knockdowns... Dembele was a shadow in the second half. We did not see him. It's worrying the way he faded away."

Moussa Dembele at Fulham

A game in early July is too early to judge players making their debuts, yet this was a serious fixture, with potentially big repercussions.

If Celtic cannot overcome defeat in the second leg then Brendan Rodgers will face a miserable debut season at the club, immediately falling at an even lower hurdle than predecessor Ronny Deila.

Dan Coombs

Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.
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